What a great day! My day went like clockwork (unlike Tony’s) but the run up to it was far from smooth. I had the forms printed out ages ago and was spreading the word to the guys, trying to get them to enter. I filled out the entry form but couldn’t find my new cheque book. The last one in the old book was used for the Sidcup XC (that I couldn’t do in the end) and while I was hunting around for it my mum ended up in hospital so I spent some time down in Hereford. Thankfully a very understanding Brian at Sidcup MCC allowed me to enter via an email (considering the circumstances) so at least I was entered for the event. Most of the other guys had chickened out so it was down to me and Tony again to fly the flag. Talking on the phone with Tony he mentioned that he’d entered the Over 40 class, but he’d noticed I was in Clubmen. “You dozy tit” I told him – “Over 40 is where old ‘expert’ and ‘championship’ riders go to retire, it’s more competitive than clubmen”! “Oh well – I suppose I’ll get my arse kicked then” he replied – oh yes – and the rest. Let’s just say he had an eventful day!

One great addition to the day was my girlfriend, she’d finished her dissertation and could once again join us at the event to take photos. What with the delay in my entry I hadn’t received a program so I relied on Tony to be up to date on all the info – if only he’d read it I might have been! The trip down to Sidcup went without a hitch but was fairly quite as both my passengers were sparko.

scintillating conversation on the way down

view of the holding area/pits - looking up towards the start

Once at the track and signed on we set about getting our times sorted and written on bits of tape in prominent locations on the bikes – then it was time for a quick reccy of the special test track (well the clocking point at least – sod walking the whole thing). We bumped into Gary who is a CHEC regular but had never been to Canada Heights before and we chatted about the lap times. Nicky had worked out the lap times in minutes for me and I was surprised to see two 15 minute laps in the mix. That seemed to be tighter than last year and I was worried I’d not be able to make that but Tony was in the shit cos he had to do a 13 minute lap in the O40 class, ha – that’ll teach him!

the lap start times and lap duration written on two bits of tape (just in case)
cloth to clean off goggles mid race (attached to an elastic) and watch just in case the bikes on board one fails - lets race!

Getting back to the car we suddenly realised time was running out and we had to get geared up in a hurry as we were going to miss the riders briefing. I was delayed by the fact I had to sort out my helmet cam paraphernalia so Tony and Nicky headed off to catch the briefing and they would fill me in later – except they missed it too so we were none the wiser – no change there then!

Tony was off at just gone ten thirty but I wasn’t out until nearly eleven so I had plenty of time to fret around in the pits and go for that last minute pee that always seems to come on minutes before the start of a race, regardless of how many times you’ve already gone that morning. I got talking to a youngster who was on my same start minute and just as we were about to set off Tony came back after his first lap and said the lap was straight forward enough but that there was one pretty iffy section that was really snotty and he reckoned it would be hell by the time we got there.

NO he's not taken a dump on the seat (even though it might look like it)
its Tony and the mystical 'mud' that never was

The first lap we just rolled through the timing markers and seeing as it was such a slow lap I knew that you were supposed to take it as a ‘sighting lap’. This is easier said than done when you are used to going balls out in Hare & Hounds races but I managed to force myself to slow down a fair bit. But the MX track is hard work no matter what speed you ride due to the hills and rough nature of the terrain. The before mentioned snotty bit turned out to be nothing more than a soft piece of sand and I thought Tony must be getting soft in his old age having just clocked up another year. However later on I learnt that this part had been cut out very early on due to the shear amount of riders getting stuck.

me on the first lap

Tony on the slippery sandy corner. you can see here he's gone for the wide line

Starting out on the second lap I waved the transponder at the pickup and expected a loud bleep like you get at the CHEC events but nothing happened. The lady pointed at the screen and said something I didn’t catch so by the time I looked at it I had no idea what I was supposed to see. She stuffed the timecard back under the rubber band and I set off - still confused, enough to overshoot the first bend. The track was running in a similar layout to the 2008 enduro, in so much as we first went into the tight and twisty woods near the parking, exiting the woods and doing a few laps of the trees before entering the woods once more in a bit of a gully. We took several right turns that brought us back out into the clearing once more and again traversed several trees while all the time heading in the general direction of the woods to the right of the mx track.

a rider falls in the gully

he's pooped and not the only one having issues here!

climb out the side might help?

A log hop and a few turns later we entered into the mx track at the bottom section where later on I would perform some more of my ‘bottoming the bike out and trying to break it in half’ tricks. The course followed the mx track up the hill and around the large bend near the pits. Back up the hill again and then down the other side but once around the next corner we branched off through the fence, down another short slope where there was a tricky left turn. You could either go tight and very slow or wide and just as slow, but either way the incline on the way out was made up of deep fine powder like sand that got deeper and deeper as the day wore on.

how to take the table top - take it one big jump

and how not to take a jump!

We then peeled back into the track and followed that for some more teeth rattling jumps, climbs and suspension testing rough going until we got out into the trees once more where the special test start was positioned. The test itself was situated on the back field so it was a fast one this time round. A few turns were laid out and this took you to the far end of the field where you entered the woods, hoped over some logs and weaved though the trees some more before breaking back out into the opening going and blasting back to the clock point.

slight difference in style and speed!

my slightly more delicate style

After the special we were once again under the larger trees and did a few laps of them before heading back out into the open going, but only after the steep dip that managed to get deeper and deeper as the day wore on, or was that just my tired arms? Once the second fast loop was over we were into the large tree area one more time and did the obligatory passes though the containers, which brought us to the final leg - the woods just on the side of the parking area. This section was very tight and wasn’t easy to overtake in if you needed to, which did cause problems on some laps as you need to keep your speed up here due to the soft powdery surface.

back at the gully and rider 128 is having a bit of a nightmare! he takes a tumble

then tries to sort it out

but falls again and gets filled by riders 129... 86..... & 84!

then i came alone too and pushed past!

Once back in the pits we had time to have a quick drink and breather while keeping a close eye on the time to make sure you didn’t get caught out (eh Tony!). I’m not sure what lap it was but I came in on one lap and parked up near our gear. Tony was there and I asked if he shouldn’t have gone out already? He wasn’t too sure but a quick look at this times confirmed he should have gone out two minutes ago! This was his second mistake of the day (that he owns up to). Coming in at the end of our second lap we bumped into him – “well that’s me f***ed” he said. “I forgot to clock out at the end of the special test”. After a bit of a discussion we advised him to do it two more times anyway as we were sure they would be understandable as it was a bit confusing at first getting used to the transponders and clock cards. However having looked at the results it would appear they only took your best time out of the two tests so he would have been ok – had he finished (more on that later!).

me about to wreck more pain and suffering on my already overworked suspension!

Tony

30 minutes... 25 20 15 25 20 20 25 15 22 23, The clubman lap times were as above. So you can see they start out nice and easy but get quicker so by the forth lap you have to get a move on, but after that you can ease off again for a few laps before tackling the next tight i.e. fast lap. Having been very unsure of being able to make a 15 minute lap earlier I was a little more confident as the laps worn on as I could managed the 20 minute lap easy enough with time to spare so I thought if I really gave it some I’d be ok. I was a little nervous at the start as I’d been losing time getting away from the clocks but this time it all went smoothly and I managed to not make any mistakes in the first uppy downy bits in the woods and kept it fast but smooth for the rest of the lap. I was conscious of not making any mistakes as that would be disastrous so I tried to concentrate hard on keeping my line and placing the bike where it should be. I came across some slower riders but thankfully they were all as good as gold and I never got held up once – pulling into the pits with a little (but not much) time to spare.

video lap on the first (second?) 'tight lap' of 15min.
unfortunately the lense had a bit of dirt on it by this time.

a long distance shot of me picking of some of the guys from my start row after a slow start.
this photo shows the scale of the track and hills nicely and gives you a feeling what it's like

I came in after the next lap and the youngster I’d been talking to had DNF’ed after his gear lever fell off! I offered him my spare but he decided not to bother in the end. Another lap later and I swung in once more to find Tony chilling out in the pits eating some lunch – he had a puncture in the rear wheel – and yes he does have a mousse, but it’s sitting in the garage at home! By this time what with the time penalties (that he forgot to carry over), missed special test times and now the puncture he simply threw his clock card in the bin for a DNF!

who ate all the pies.......who ate all the pies

The other guy (must try and find out his name) was a little happier as he’d managed to find his lost gear lever (not sure how). I grabbed a can of RelentlessRedMonster (something or other) energy drink while our new mate asked if I needed some petrol. Now I’d been keeping it topped up but I also knew that there was a quick lap coming up soon and I was feeling kinda worn out by now so I wasn’t too sure how I would fare. Anyway I thought it best to splash some more in. He handed me the can and I screwed on the nozzle – only it couldn’t have been on properly as it came lose as I started to pour it in and spilt petrol everywhere! A quick fumble and I got it attached, filled up and went to start the next lap. Sniff sniff - what the hell - that is a one strong smell of petrol, I must have spilt more than I thought. I was a little light headed from the smell as I started the lap and once into the trees my cheek started to sting like mad. The penny dropped - I’d only manage to get the petrol onto the foam of my goggles somehow ( they’d been on the bars) so I floated around on cloud nine for half a lap and then threw up a little sick that I swallowed again. Not nice but I’m not sure if it was the petrol smell or the MonsterRedsomething or other energy drink that I’d gulped down, but at least the burning on my cheek wasn’t too bad as I was pretty high by now!

back at the gully again...
the line out by now was cut deep into the sand and caused more problems for some riders

me again

meeting up with Tony in the pits while he was still in the event

I’m not sure why but the little gully shortly after the pits was causing a lot of problems for some riders and I got caught up a bit when I found a bike blocking the way at one point. Getting going again from a dead start was bit more challenging due to the soft sand and steep slope.

I took the slow lap that was just before the last ‘tight’ or fast lap really slowly to try and re-build some of my lost energy. The hills and rough going had taken their toll and I was feeling tried by now. Riding slower does cause a few problems though, you tend to start losing concentration a little and I got it wrong at the tight soft turn. I went for the tight inner line but the front wheel slipped on the slope and the bike went down. Picking it up I had to get going again but with no momentum the uphill slope was more difficult than usual and I ended up careering of the track into the tree. This was no good, I’d have to speed up to get my concentration back into play.

eventual winner in the championship class NO:1 James Burroughs

second place finisher Rob Warner No:5 who was racing in his jim jams by the look of it!

Coming into the last part of the woods where the course was so narrow I got stuck behind a slower rider who had no intentions of letting me past despite loads of revving. A quick rider appeared behind me so I moved over to let him past and his louder exhaust sound made the slower rider move over and I tried to follow but got cut up and the decrease in speed resulted in me flopping off again in the soft power. I can’t remember the second fast lap but it must have gone ok as I made it back in time. So that was that all I had to do was cruise around for two more laps and the day was done. Flicking the bike into neutral in the pits I felt I lot of play on the gear lever so I retched down and to my horror my gear lever was lose too! Not sure how as I use nutlock but at least the chain wear pad sits in a slightly different position on my bike as I had to weld the lug back on for the side stand. That means it sits right in front of the bolt and stops it rattling out completely – well that is what I hoped anyway but every time I changed gear on the last two laps I winced a bit. Half way round the last lap I got fed up with going slow so I hit the go juice again and accelerated up to special test speed as I wanted to get it over and done with – my butt was sore!

Gary Hanson who normally takes part in the CHEC series with us at his first timecard enduro
bastard beat me by one spot!

the end is on sight! not long now - one more lap

quick drink before we go go!

A great days racing was had once again. Sidcup/Canada Heights is always a pleasure to ride as it spices things up from the normal H&H type tracks. I was a little tired on the way home but not as much as the other two. Nicky was lights out in the rear and Tony was the proverbial nodding dog all the way home until he dropped off completely and whacked his chin onto his chest, jerking his head up wide eyed in surprise - with my laughter ringing in his ears! He’d scared the life out of himself!

Tony - about scare himself silly

A nice bath and a jacks & coke topped of the day. Strange but I still had a brown mark on my cheek the next day. Looking in the mirror I wondered how I could have missed that the night before (in the bath) and tried to wipe it off – only to find it was a line burnt into my skin – petrol is not face friendly!

Results were out nice and early. I got 16th in the clubman class. Not bad but of course I secretly hopped for better (doesn’t everyone?). And Tony? Well as already mentioned he self DNF’d so a result was a no brainer, but the interesting thing was that he’d managed to cock up his times on the SECOND LAP somehow! I think the rules and regulations was too much for him and as he wasn’t on the same start time as me this year to had to pay attention to the details himself – which I think he’ll freely admit is not his strong point! I’m afraid the “that’ll do” attitude doesn’t work in time card enduro's! PS - results have now been amended to include both special tests and i've moved up the rankings to 15th and therefore qualify for a silver medel!!

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